Chapter 4 - Looting_There Will Be Dragons Here

As Isabelle thought yes and focused on Kolti’s decapitated corpse, her inventory popped up.

Inventory: Kolti

Item

Traits

Steel Domination Chain

+11 damage, +10 carry weight

Black Steel Armor (kobold)

+15 hp, +20 carry weight

Black Steel Boots of Light Feet (kobold)

+2 movement speed, +8 carry weight

Gold (50)

n/a

Emerald Amulet of Lesser Stamina

+2 stm, +0.5/sec s-regen

“Holy shit, she’s got some good stuff.” Isabelle smiled and selected with her thoughts each item.

Inventory: Kolti

Item

Traits

n/a

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

Isabelle suddenly felt like the whole weight of the world was pressing on her shoulders, though she could not see herself holding anything.

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“You alright there, Isabelle?” Tahsi asked with a shrug. He jumped. “Holy shit, my character sheet!”

And, as Isabelle focused, she could see Tahsi’s full character sheet, too.

Character Status

Name:

Tahsi

Gender:

Male

Level:

Class:

Baker

Race:

Kobold

Alignment:

Neutral-Good

Attributes

Hp:

H-Regen:

0.2/sec

Mana:

M-Regen:

0.2/sec

Stm:

S-Regen:

0.5/sec

Skill Points

Str:

Int:

Dx:

Wis:

Const:

Char:

Magic Ability Levels

Enchant:

Summon:

Heal:

Destroy:

Transmute:

Confuse:

Normal Ability Levels

Crafting:

Sneak:

Archery:

Lockpick:

Armed Combat:

Melee Combat:

Speechcraft:

Slight Of Hand:

Isabelle scoffed. Tahsi was better than her at everything. How irritating.

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“You know, Isabelle, I always figured the party members would get access to the system like the player did. I just never figured I’d be one of them!” said Tahsi.

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“The ‘system’? Tahsi, you seem to know an awful lot about what’s going on with me,” said Isabelle, “Would you mind elaborating?”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“Why don’t you check your inventory first, Isabelle? Those notices are getting hard to watch. You look so uncomfortable.”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“You can see those, too?”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“Party member, Isabelle. Party member.”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“Ugh. Fine, Tahsi, fine.”

Isabelle thought about checking her inventory.

Inventory: Isabelle

Carrying capacity: 43.5/36

Item

Traits

Steel Morningstar

+3 damage, +5 carry weight

Potion of Lesser Health

+5 hp, +0.5 carry weight

Steel Domination Chain

+11 damage, +10 carry weight

Black Steel Armor (kobold)

+15 hp, +20 carry weight

Black Steel Boots of Light Feet (kobold)

+2 movement speed, +8 carry weight

Emerald Amulet of Lesser Stamina

+2 stm, +0.5/sec s-regen

Peasant Robes (human)

+1 carry weight

Gold (55)

n/a

“Great. I’m seven and a half pounds over. Now I have to get rid of some of this stuff!”

“You know, Isabelle,” said Tahsi, “You could give some of it to me. Keep it in the party and all.”

“I guess I have to,” Isabelle said, “But I’m not handing over any of Kolti’s stuff. That armor is too cool, and what I’m wearing now is human peasant robes, apparently.”

Isabelle thought about putting on Kolti’s black steel armor and black steel boot of light feet.

[Error: Black Steel Armor (kobold) will not fit a human]

[Error: Black Steel Boots of Light Feet (kobold) will not fit a human)]

“Shit,” Isabelle said, “I really wanted that armor, but the ‘system,’ as you call it, won’t let me wear it because I’m human! This is discrimination.”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“Discrimination, or logic?” Tahsi smiled. “Why don’t you give her armor to me? You know, since I’m a kobold?”

[Notice: You’re over encumbered. Please check your inventory.]

“Fine. I’ll give it to you. But I’m keeping her steel domination chain.” Isabelle cleared her throat, unsure what to do. “Um, as soon as I figure out how to give it to you, that is. The armor, I mean.”

[Clarification: You can transfer inventory items to party members by opening your inventory, choosing the item, and thinking about giving it to them.]

Isabelle rolled her eyes. Of course.

[Black Steel Armor (kobold) transferred to party member Tahsi]

[Notice: You are no longer over encumbered.]

[Black Steel Boots of Light Feet (kobold) transferred to party member Tahsi]

Suddenly, Tahsi’s eyes glazed over. Then, in a flash, he was wearing Kolti’s black steel armor, and looking quite proud of himself.

“Aww, Tahsi. I’m glad you’re happy, but you were so cute in that baking apron!” Isabelle teased.

“I’ve still got it in my inventory!” Tahsi snapped defensively.

“So, Tahsi,” Isabelle looked down at the corpses on the floor, “Now that we’ve got some cool stuff, don’t you think we ought to leave? Before more of these guys show up and kill us or something, I mean?”

“Why don’t you check that guy’s pockets first, Isabelle?” Tahsi pointed to a nearby corpse. “He’s giving me a vibe like he’ll have something interesting.”

Isabelle focused on the dead kobold.

Inventory: Kobold

Item

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Traits

Steel Mace

+5 damage, +10 carry weight

Potion of Lesser Health

+5 hp, +0.5 carry weight

Collection of Letters

n/a

Gold (5)

n/a

Isabelle took the potion of lesser health, the gold, and the collection of letters.

Inventory: Kobold

Item

Traits

Steel Mace

+5 damage, +10 carry weight

She then opened her own inventory and focused on the collection of letters. They flashed instantly into her hands.

“Check these out, Tahsi!” Isabelle smiled, fanning the papers out for them both to read.

Letter The First

Dearest mother,

Oh, how I miss thee so,

The pines where your red ferns grow,

Oh, those oats we both would sow,

Dearest mother, how I miss thee so.

Isabelle snorted. She looked at the next letter.

Letter The Second

Mother, oh mother

Were that you hadn’t my brother

That I were your one and only son

Mother, oh mother

“You know, Isabelle,” Tahsi cleared his throat, “Life in the Ozian Sect is pretty rough. All it is is training and murdering interlopers and such. It was probably a real boon to this guy to be able to write sweet poetry about his mother.”

Letter The Third

Mother of mine

All my love goes to thine

Like a tingle in my spine

Perfectly divine

Mother of mine

Please give me a sign

That our passions entwine

Also, get me some wine

Mother of mine

“Wow, this guy is a nut,” said Isabelle.

“I’ll say,” Tahsi said, “Who rhymes ‘entwine’ with ‘wine’? Does that even count?”

Isabelle tried to throw the papers on the floor, but couldn’t let go of them. She tried again. Once again, failure.

[Clarification: If you want to discard an inventory item, focus on the item and then think ‘discard.’]

Isabelle did so. The letters then disappeared out of her hands and fluttered onto the floor.

“This… what’d you call it, Tahsi? This ‘system’ is pretty weird. I don’t quite understand why it keeps acting like I’m in a video game.”

Tahsi blinked. “Um. What’s a video game?”

“Nevermind.” Isabelle shook her head. “Have I looted everybody yet, Tahsi?”

Tahsi shrugged. “Shit! I keep forgetting my character sheet pops up when I do that.”

“I know right?” Isabelle said.

[Clarification: To confirm whether you have looted all available corpses in a given area, think ‘loot check.’]

Isabelle thought ‘loot check.’

[You have 1 unlooted corpse remaining. Loot ‘kobold’ now?]

[Y/N]

Isabelle thought ‘yes.’

Inventory: Kobold

Item

Traits

Steel Mace

+5 damage, +10 carry weight

Gate Key

n/a

“Huh. This one’s got a gate key. That sounds important, huh, Tahsi?”

Tahsi shrugged. “Oh, gods damnit!”

Isabelle took the gate key.

Inventory: Kobold

Item

Traits

Steel Mace

+5 damage, +10 carry weight

“Well.” Isabelle said, “Now that that’s settled, let’s get the hell out of here, Tahsi. These bodies are making me anxious.”

“Fair enough,” Tahsi nodded. “Still, this humble bakery shack has been my home for fifteen years. It feels wrong to just leave it. Why don’t we each take a loaf of bread or two for the road?”

[Speechcraft Attempt: Deceive]

Isabelle forced a smile. “That sounds like a great idea, Tahsi.”

[Speechcraft Succeeded]

Tahsi walked over to a cupboard and swung it open, revealing hundreds of loaves of stale bread. Isabelle watched as one from the bottom of the pile disappeared, sending the entire heap of loaves tumbling down onto the bloodstained floor. Surprisingly enough, no blood got on them.

“Oops. Looks like I put the wrong loaf in my inventory. Oh well, it’s not like I’ve got to clean the mess up.” Tahsi smiled, and then, he gasped. “My gods, Isabelle, my bread only takes up 0.5 carry weight! We can take so, so much bread!”

Isabelle smiled and nodded.

“Go ahead, Isabelle, take some bread!”

Isabelle focused on a nearby loaf of bread. It disappeared.

[Stale Bread Loaf added to inventory]

“Come on, take some more!” Tahsi said. “When will you get another opportunity to take some of my bread?”

Isabelle sighed, and she complied.

[Stale Bread Loaf added to inventory]

“Okay, that’s enough,” Isabelle decided with a huff. Then, she decided to check her inventory, just to see what exactly it looked like now that she was carrying all this unwanted bread.

Inventory: Isabelle

Carrying capacity: 22/36

Item

Traits

Steel Morningstar

+3 damage, +5 carry weight

Potion of Lesser Health x2

+5 hp, +0.5 carry weight

Steel Domination Chain

+11 damage, +10 carry weight

Emerald Amulet of Lesser Stamina

+2 stm, +0.5/sec s-regen

Peasant Robes (human)

+1 carry weight

Stale Bread Loaf x10

+10 hp (cumulative), +0.5 carry weight

Gate Key

n/a

Gold (60)

n/a

+10 hp for that awful bread? Maybe it was worth keeping in her inventory anyway, just in case. Then again, Isabelle wasn’t sure what ‘cumulative’ referred to.

[Clarification: +10 hp (cumulative) means that the entire bread loaf, when consumed, will give up to 10 hp. Each bite you take of the loaf will give you a fraction of the cumulative hp. The last bite will take the total amount of hp you have gained from eating that bread loaf to 10. How quickly you get the 10 hp is on a sliding scale, and depends upon how big of a bite you take, how fast you chew it, how much of the bread is left, et cetera.]

Isabelle wasn’t entirely certain she needed that much explanation, but she was thankful for it, regardless.

Isabelle then had a thought. Maybe she ought to go ahead and put on that Emerald Amulet of Lesser Stamina. There was no telling when she’d get into another spat, and stamina seemed pretty important.

[Emerald Amulet of Lesser Stamina equipped]

[+2 stm]

She didn’t feel much of a physical change, though she could feel the amulet pressing cold against her chest. It looked rather pretty.

“What’s a gross, scaly kobold doing carrying something so nice looking?” Isabelle asked absent-mindedly.

“What was that about Kobolds?” Tahsi asked. He’d apparently been so distracted adding more and more bread loaves to his inventory that he hadn’t heard her. Thankfully.

“Nothing, Tahsi, nothing.”

“Okay then,” Tahsi said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

With that, they headed out the front door.

Outside, the air was cool and windy, and smelled like saltwater and rotting fish. Two large, purple moons hung in the air, glowing with a bewitching energy. The stars were out, barely hidden by small whisps of clouds, and they were sparkling, brilliant little specks.

“Wow,” Isabelle said, “It’s beautiful out here. Where are we, again?”

“Thres. The Port District of Cloud Reach, to be more exact. Not a lot of humans around here. Which is why I was so surprised when I found you lying by the shipyards, gulls pecking at you and everything. Hell, Isabelle, I thought you were dead.”

“Lovely,” Isabelle said with a grimace. “Now, where exactly should we go?”

“Well—” Tahsi cleared his throat, “—As I said, not a lot of humans around here. And the fact that you’re seemingly foreign to Beaubinte isn’t going to do you any favors. I would say we head west, to the Horns. There’s somebody there who might be able to give you a bit of a crash course in how to survive this place.”

“The Horns? That’s an odd name.”

“It was named after Avlu the Blower,” Tahsi replied.

Isabelle tried not to laugh. “That’s… also an odd name.”

“Why, he could blow on those horns like nobody’s business.”

Isabelle raised an eyebrow at Tahsi.

“Ozian Horns, I mean,” Tahsi said, as if it explained everything.

Isabelle continued to look to him in confusion.

“Our national brass instrument? A big point of pride for many Ozians, myself included.”

“Oh,” Isabelle said. “Okay, I get it.”

Suddenly, a large creature crawled across the sandy ground, its claws gnashing. Its horrible, yellow eyes raised up, out of its hard exoskeleton. Isabelle felt dread and terror. Then, she had an idea.

[Combat mode activated]

Cooly, Isabelle leapt up to the beast and punched it.

[10 damage dealt]

The beast went soaring through the air, flailing around in the night sky miserably before landing far away in a dead heap.

[‘Large Ozian Hermit Crab’ is dead]

[Combat mode deactivated]

[Melee combat increased to level 1]

“Isabelle, in the future, please don’t harass the wildlife,” Tahsi said. “That crab didn’t do anything to you. There’s no need to be so aggressive.”

“Tahsi, that crab was enormous! It looked ready to tear me in half!”

“Of course it was enormous, Isabelle, it was a Large Ozian Hermit Crab! But, and I guess you didn’t know this already, they’re known as the gentle giants of the seaside. A Large Ozian Hermit Crab wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less a big scary human, and much, much less a big scary human accompanied by a big, scary kobold.”

“Fine. Can I at least go loot it, though?” Isabelle asked.

“Oh, whatever.”

Isabelle prepared to run off toward the dead crab, but then was interrupted by a notice from the system.

[Clarification: There is a severed crab claw lying by your foot. You can focus on that crab claw to loot the Large Ozian Hermit Crab you killed.]

“Wait, seriously?” Isabelle looked down at the crab claw at her feet, “As long as any part of the dead body is near me, I can search it like that whole body’s here? Even though it’s easily fifty feet away?”

[Clarification: Yes. The system prides itself on its ease of use, stellar logic, and winning flexibility.]

Isabelle thought the system sounded a little smug, but she shrugged, and—

Character Status

Name:

Isabelle

Gender:

Female

Level:

Class:

Undefined

Race:

Human

Alignment:

Neutral-Neutral

Attributes

Hp:

H-Regen:

3/min

Mana:

M-Regen:

2/min

Stm:

11 (+2)

S-Regen:

0.5 (+0.5)/sec

Skill Points

Str:

Int:

Dx:

Wis:

Const:

Char:

Magic Ability Levels

Enchant:

Summon:

Heal:

Destroy:

Transmute:

Confuse:

Normal Ability Levels

Crafting:

Sneak:

Archery:

Lockpick:

Armed Combat:

Melee Combat:

Speechcraft:

Slight Of Hand:

“Ugh!” Isabelle shook her head, watching as her character sheet disappeared, her frustration eclipsing the joy she felt at seeing that her melee combat levels had increased. “Is there any way I can keep my character sheet from popping up every time I shrug?”

[Clarification: You can reprogram gesture responses after completing the tutorial.]

“Tutorial? What tutorial?” Isabelle turned to Tahsi. “Tahsi, I thought you said you weren’t a tutorial!”

“I’m not! I’m a person!”

[Clarification: You have not started the tutorial yet.]

“Ugh. This system comes off as so smug,” Isabelle said. “Whatever. I’m going to loot that Large Ozian Hermit Crab now.”

Isabelle focused on the crab claw by her feet.

[Loot ‘Large Ozian Hermit Crab’?]

Isabelle thought yes.

Inventory: Large Ozian Hermit Crab

Item

Traits

Crab Ambergris

+5 carry weight

Crab Flesh

+2 hp, +1 carry weight

Staff of the Crustacean

+5 mana, +2 carry weight

“Woah!” Isabelle’s eyes went wide. “There’s a staff in here? Staff of the Crustacean?”

“Sound sketchy,” Tahsi said. “I wouldn’t take anything from that dead crab, if I were you.”

“Screw that, I’m taking all this shit!”

Inventory: Large Ozian Hermit Crab

Item

Traits

n/a

“I wonder if I can learn any more that Staff of the Crustacean. I’m sure it does something cool,” said Isabelle.

[Clarification: To learn more about an inventory item, open your inventory, focus on the item, and think ‘learn more’.]

Isabelle rolled her eyes. She could’ve guessed as much.

Chapter 4 - Looting

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